Inaugural meeting of IITMAANA Boston Chapter

This is a special and exciting time for IITM’ and Alumni to come together with shared values and a common sense of purpose for significant contributions towards education, mentoring, career advice and motivation to young alumni from seasoned professionals, for potentially rewarding benefits to all members. The IIT Madras Foundation provides a strategic goal for all alumni to contribute towards the growth of their alma mater.

The Boston area is host to a vibrant community of IITM alumni working in technology, education and healthcare. In this spirit, IITMAANA conducted a Kick-off Event to inaugurate the IITMAANA Boston chapter.

On a balmy Saturday Fall afternoon of December 2, IITM alumni across generations gathered for an Inaugural meeting commemorating the IIT MAANA Boston Chapter and the building of a Network of IITM Chapters across the East Coast, held at the prestigious MIT Cambridge in Boston. There was a buffet of delicious food and drinks with scrumptious samosas, organizedby Sanjay Guruprasad. Thank you Sanjay!

An eclectic group of IIT Alumni enthusiastically participated and engaged in interactive discussions, brainstormed innovative ideas, expressed concern areas while providing guidance for a successful Boston chapter and for chapters being launched within the IITMAANA Network. A resounding THANK YOU to Dilip Subramanyam for his dedication, hard work and support over the last 10-20 years for creating and developing the IITMAANA Chapter in Boston. He has now passed the Torch forward to a new team who will spearhead and grow IITMAANA Boston into a thriving organization.

Here are some more details about the Launch Event of the IITMAANA Boston Chapter, from the sneak peak of the Introductory blurb.

The successful relaunch of the IITMAANA Philadelphia Chapter has been replicated with the Boston Chapter whose relaunch was held on December 2, 2017, and a Network of Chapters will follow across the East Coast.

This Event was led by Secretary Andy Bala, co-hosted with the incoming President Roopesh Mathur. Dr. Subbiah and Ms. Rekha showcased the IIT Madras Foundation, its achievements and goals for the future.

The primary Aim of the Chapters are to support IIT Madras and the mission of IITMAANA that signifies education, exchange of ideas, international charitable activities with mentorship and guidance to generations of IIT Alumni for their academic, career support and social endeavors.

In this regard, Secretary Andy spoke on the plans for the IITMAANA Chapters where a significant Goal would be the successful launch of 10 IITM Chapters by the year end 2018. In addition, developing Board support by combining the IITMAANA’s with the Foundation Board and linking their websites for a centralized hub on the IITM’s. Andy also introduced the office bearers for the chapter: Roopesh Mathur (president), Suresh Sriramulu (Vice President) and Sanjay Guruprasad (Secretary). (Secretary presentation slides)

The new President of IIT MAANA Boston, Roopesh informed the audience on new initiatives, such as moving to a Social Media profile; as well as organizing social and professional events, including an alumni conference, for IITM alumni in the greater Boston area (click here for slides of the presentation).

Subbiah and Rekha provided a holistic overview of the IIT Madras Foundation, which is designated to play a strategic role in nurturing the research and innovation ecosystem and a startup incubator at IIT Madras. The major Goal of the Foundation is to build a $100M Endowment by 2020. (Slide on IITM Foundation)

The final phase of the event was an open discussion that was robust, interactive and thoughtful points raised by the alumni. Several aspects agreed upon by the majority were:

Key Takeaways:

A membership fee in small denominations that would motivate people to attend, participate and .remain engaged.

Create a central database between IIT Madras and IITMAANA.

To raise funds for particular initiatives possibly through a recurring deposit from individuals.

New student welcome, where the campus informs by giving information on the student to enable finding the student a mentor.

A joint Endowment between IIT Madras and IITMAANA.

What does IITMAANA Boston want to accomplish for the East Coast.

Operational issues addressed:

To obtain a list from IIT Madras on new graduating students and their move to the US for further studies or work.

Create additions to the portal (www.iitmaana.org), such as a search feature for registering and finding a classmate with instructions on how to advance the search feature.

Conceptual ideas:

Invite Venture Capitalists as speakers and discuss new technology and innovations

Hold a Mardi Gras Event

Subbiah suggested a Fall Vermont Event

Sanjay suggested a Bar Mixer to attract the younger alumni.

An idea that had overwhelming support was to hold “A Marquee Event”

Concern area: Sustainability of the Chapters and Networks.

We hope to have built awareness and understanding of the IITM Alumni Chapters here and the path going forward.